Stunning Recovery Drive Caps Impressive Rookie Year For Files
During Sunday’s final round of the 2011 AirAsia Clio Cup, the overall Championship honours were decided along with the Masters and Graduate Cup categories. Amid the title battles, the drive of the day belonged to Team Pyro’s Josh Files as he battled back from a tough start to claim a superb fifth place.
Files was less than impressed with the actions of others which contributed to his issues at the start as he described to BTCC Crazy.
“Whorton-Eales abruptly put me in the pit wall at the start, demoting me to eleventh by the first corner and lots of work to do.”
In recent weeks, Files, in his first season in the Clio Cup, has been consistently quick, and the position he found himself in required the best efforts to finish the season on a high.
With his head down, he made a start on working through the order; “I had a great lunge on Hamilton and Dickenson on consecutive laps as Surtees, charging through the order,” he said.
“After getting by Boston, I knew I had the pace and quickly reeled in Dixon setting a fastest lap in the process. The car was great and I kept the pressure on him but he drove brilliantly.”
The move for fifth came right at the death; “I made the overlap into the final corner, and on the grass pipped him at the line.”
The race was another positive to add to the list as his rookie season came to an end. Having graced the podium twice, including at his home track at Snetterton, he finished the season seventh overall and as the top placed of all the first year drivers. The next step is to claim a race win, which after a positive end to 2011, won’t be too far away as we enter the 2012 season.
Photo Credit: Jakob Ebrey
Richard Devine
